Two-time Premiership Captain Mark Bickley has plenty of never-before-told stories, following a 13-year AFL career spanning across 272 games, and three years within the coaching ranks.

This year, Bicks will be lifting the lid on those stories with us, taking you inside the four walls at West Lakes, with an aim of giving an insight into football life.

The Crows play Essendon this weekend and Bicks recalls his AFL debut against the Bombers back in Round Four, 1991.

When players made their AFL debut during the Club’s early years, it was vastly different to our modern-day scenes.

I can still remember my debut game quite vividly - it is certainly a very special memory - but it was also an unspectacular lead up and day.

I was one of six players who didn’t actually make Adelaide’s inaugural list in 1991 but we were still given the opportunity to continue training with the Club with the aim of earning a spot.

This one Wednesday at training I was told to make my way over to the then team manager Neil Kerley’s office.

Our changerooms at the Club were below the grandstand and Neil's office was in a hut in a different area, so I walked over, not knowing what he was going to say to me.

When I got in, Neil handed me a contract and said ‘you’ll need to sign this, you’re playing on Saturday’.

The age old tale ‘don’t sign anything until you read it’ popped into my head and I told Neil that.

His response was ‘the contract won’t change, so sign it or else you won’t play’.

So I signed it but I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone I was debuting, so I went back to training then quickly went home to phone my parents.

The game was going to be hosted at Windy Hill, Essendon’s home ground in Victoria and back then, families never travelled so my parents actually didn’t actually watch my debut game live.

A far cry from today where debutant’s parents make a mad rush to the airport to watch their son or daughter play their first game live.

The trip to Melbourne marked just the second time I had been on a plane, despite being 21 years old.

Game day came around pretty quickly and there was no guernsey presentation, no family and friends in the rooms pre-game.

The guernseys were all in a suitcase and we were just handed them.

I was so excited, nervous and also a bit intimated. Windy Hill was a tough ground with a hostile crowd.

Essendon also had some stars playing that day - Paul Salmon, Michael Long, Gavin Wanganeen and Greg Anderson (who eventually came back home to play with us). 

I remember it was absolutely blowing a gale and Kevin Sheedy, who was Essendon’s coach, tied the windsock down so no one could tell which way the wind was blowing.

I started on the bench, before coming on for Chris McDermott and played most of the game at half-forward.

I finished the game with 10 kicks, six handballs and one behind.

We also lost the game but it was still a memorable day for me as I had realised my dream of playing AFL.

My first win came two weeks later when we played Footscray at home, but that’s another story.

Go Crows!